10/08/2010 @ 3:30PM

Apple, Disney, Facebook: Breakaway Brands Offer Simple Pleasures

Strong brands that give people comfort and connections show up on this year’s list of 10 of the nation’s hottest corporate and product brands. Among them: Facebook,
Disney
and
Nintendo
.

The Breakaway Brands survey, conducted by Landor Associates using Young & Rubicam’s BrandAsset Valuator database, measures brand momentum over three years. From 2006 to 2009,
Apple
,
Google
and LG were among the brands that posted gains that helped them outrank other brands in some 2,500 surveyed. This time around, classics
Disney
and Kraft rose to the top, reflecting the back-to-basics values that emerged among consumers who valued quality time with family during tough economic times. (See methodology below.)

The top-ranked brand on this survey? Clif Bar, a brand that, like others on this list, has created or capitalized on significant social and market trends while remaining true to its core customer promise.

The Top-Ranked Brands

No. 1: Clif Bar

Created in 1990 by Gary Erickson, Clif Bar & Co., has developed a broad range of natural “energy” bars that target active, outdoorsy, environmentally conscious snackers–and the folks who want to be like them. Part of the appeal of the brand, named for the founder’s dad, is in its good deeds. The company donates money to wind farms, powers delivery vans with biodiesel and encourages employees to volunteer for good causes.

Indeed, Clif Bar & Co.’s internal culture mirrors its external image. Employees live the brand: They travel actively, take risks, have fun with innovation, give back to their communities and practice sustainability. In effect, they are their own target audience.

By practicing what it preaches, Clif Bar is a classic story of the little brand that could–and did.

No. 2: Facebook

The most popular social site in the world helps families and friends accomplish a seemingly simple goal: sharing what’s going on in their lives.

This public conversation encompasses everything from quick status updates to full-length vacation albums. In addition to simplifying social actions from photo-sharing to event-organizing, Facebook helps its new members forge their first digital connections. The sign-up process prompts Facebook to suggest people it detects new users might know, so new members feel immediately welcomed to the site. This encourages first-time users to return: Their networks start growing the instant they join.

In 2009 Facebook dethroned MySpace as the most popular social media site, its success primarily attributable to its simpler interface. While MySpace lured users with super-customizable pages, Facebook took the opposite approach by not permitting any modified HTML. A consistent interface allows Facebook members easy access to any desired information on a friend’s page, and makes it simple for users to edit their own. The addition of third-party applications has helped Facebook become even more of a one-stop shop for entertainment, connection and communication to a wide variety of ages and demographics. As Facebook’s member ranks grow, they find new uses for its technology, changing the way we interact on a global scale.

No. 3: BlackBerry

For any device to become the universal shorthand icon of mobile business connectivity is a considerable achievement. To have accomplished this in the span of little more than 10 years after being developed by then-startup
Research in Motion
is more impressive still. By transitioning its image (and performance capabilities) from a purely functional tool for business to a popular consumer status symbol, BlackBerry, a Landor client, has successfully expanded its relevance to a far broader audience.

BlackBerry is now viewed as a people-friendly smartphone that can help busy users–including President Obama–manage all aspects of their lives as well as connect with those they care about. Its usefulness as a business tool is well-known. But the BlackBerry is also seen as a necessity for working couples and parents trying to balance family and work demands outside the office–allowing busy executives to stay on top of job demands without being tethered to a desk.

Like other tech brands on this list, its purpose is to make life easier. As with Apple’s expanding relevance, BlackBerry’s inclusion among the top 10 is further indication that consumers are seeking more convenience and better connectivity in everything they do.

No. 4: LG

Originally known as Lucky Goldstar, a manufacturer of solid, moderately priced stereos and refrigerators, this Korean conglomerate first re-branded itself with the now familiar LG cheery-faced logo nearly 15 years ago. More recently, its tagline, “Life’s Good” (introduced in 2008), has given its identity new, relevant meaning and reassured consumers during recessionary times. Consumers have responded favorably to the optimistic message, which has humanized the brand while rivals emphasize technological prowess or sleek coolness. In contrast LG feels authentic and engaging.

LG’s nontraditional marketing, such as “Ponder,” (a viral public service campaign urging teens to “think before they text” to combat mobile bullying) and innovative event sponsorships has helped it stand out and connect with consumers on an emotional level.

No. 5:
Nintendo

In the latter half of this decade, Nintendo rewrote the rules of the electronic gaming market, taking an activity long seen as solitary and sedentary and turning it into healthy, often communal play that inspires everything from learning to quality family time. Through innovative new gaming consoles, the Wii and handheld DS, Nintendo has broadened its appeal to all ages, particularly targeting those who weren’t previously interested in videogames.

The DS is marketed primarily as a teaching toy, or one to help exercise the mind–a personal handheld gaming device on which to solve puzzles and brainteasers. It’s presented, in part, as a guilt-free, feel-good toy for entertaining kids while keeping them mentally engaged.

But perhaps the biggest reason Nintendo made Landor’s Top 10 Breakaway Brands list is the Wii. With attributes contrary to what people traditionally associate with videogames, the Wii encourages dynamic play and interactivity with friends and family. Wii is perhaps the ultimate synthesis of what consumers seek during tough times: It’s perfect for at-home amusement, it inspires healthy activity, and it helps foster great memories through fun, togetherness and physical engagement. In short, Nintendo has helped redefine a category it pioneered, and reasserted itself as a true leader in interactive gaming.

No. 6: Google

As simple and friendly as anything one can find online, Google is synonymous with connecting people to what they need. With its silly, easy-to-remember name (now officially a verb), colorful yet clean identity and nearly blank homepage, Google is an authentic, no-nonsense technology tool ideal for busy users in need of information. Research has never been easier; nor has connecting to anyone, anywhere in the world.

While Google’s search engine is widely known and used, it is its brand extensions that have attracted new, devoted brand ambassadors, helping it once again make the Breakaway Brands list. Google Earth’s fans include teachers and scientists, two user groups who tend to share a lot of information among themselves about useful products and programs.

Scientific researchers use Google Earth to preliminarily explore world regions prior to setting off on physical expeditions, saving time and money and ensuring better preparation for fieldwork. Google Earth’s rising brand strength over the last several years demonstrates that more people are finding new uses for the tool.

No. 7: Apple

With a clean design aesthetic and innovative, easy-to-understand, user-friendly technology as its calling card, Apple is more than a purveyor of portable music players and laptops, it’s a lifestyle brand we can no longer imagine life without. Though its ascent into mainstream relevance means it’s no longer the cult-like “outlaw” brand its champions once cherished, Apple is still positioned squarely as the “anti-PC.”

But how can Apple, with its premium pricing and near-mainstream status, maintain its Top 10 Breakaway Brands ranking for the second year in a row, and during a serious recession, no less? It goes back to the basics: Apple helps us work more efficiently, entertain ourselves and connect to our networks.

In 2007 the iPhone redefined what a mobile phone could be. But where other companies might have been satisfied by simply creating endless permutations on a winning idea, Apple has since continued to refine and extend its brand experience across its full range of existing products while concurrently developing groundbreaking new ones (iPod touch, iPad, the App Store, and Apple TV). Each serves different needs and markets, but all are uniquely and unquestionably Apple.

No. 8: iPod

What seems so remarkable about the Apple iPod is not that it has earned Breakaway Brand status; the iPod has been cited among the world’s most valuable product brands in countless surveys, including this one, for years. What is more telling is that it managed to maintain its leadership position despite the vast array of alternative MP3 players it competes against, not to mention the rise of countless other strong iconic brands of the past decade. Why does iPod have such exceptional brand staying power?

The iPod has consistently re-imagined its brand experience. Its image has been built and nurtured around the simplicity of its elegant, highly functional design that is trendy and aspirational, yet utterly approachable. Membership in this nonexclusive club still feels special and private. By broadening its range of offerings (from the Nano to iPod touch), Apple has made its products accessible to virtually every income strata and social group across the globe. This is loyalty at its most seductive, yet neither the iPod nor its ancillary products and services are ever left to rest on their laurels. Constant refinements in software and hardware serve to regularly and substantively enhance the iPod user experience, which has now extended to gaming.

No. 9:
Kraft Foods

Few companies could claim more historic eminence as a classic American brand than Kraft. Founded by cheese maker J.L. Kraft in 1903, the company has long been known for iconic product brands like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Miracle Whip and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Yet through acquisition and aggressive marketing, the company has grown into a global conglomerate with a roster of regional and international consumer food brands is among the largest and most valued in the world. But Kraft Foods as a Breakaway Brand? That distinction may come as a surprise.

It shouldn’t. As consumers turned toward classic, trusted brands for comfort and value, Kraft Foods’ many household staples fit that bill perfectly. But high relevance alone does not assure distinctiveness. That objective requires real vision and leadership, and Kraft Foods’ Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld set her sights on differentiating this classic American-cupboard stable of brands in the minds of modern consumers, and her efforts have paid off.

Repositioning itself from a mega-holding group to a meal-solutions company over the last few years, Kraft Foods–a Landor client–has successfully integrated its product offerings into our daily lives in new and innovative ways. Simple, healthful, easy-to-make recipes in Food & Family magazine, its iFood Assistant mobile phone app and kraftrecipes.com invite fans to try, rate, share and even post photos of their meal creations.

In 2008 Kraft initiated a campaign to spur word-of-mouth promotion of its digital communities and encourage consumers to collect coupons, exchange photos and discuss food and cooking. Kraft’s active online communities make it easy for consumers to connect with one another, and also put Kraft at the center of the dialogue, helping it become much more than another faceless manufacturer.

No. 10: Disney

While a trip to an amusement park might have seemed a financial stretch for many these past several years, Disney still stepped up advertising efforts and offered deals to encourage families to take a memory-making vacation together. Even if Disney parks were out of the question, Disney movies, television programs and games offered multiple Disney-paved avenues to help families bond and spend quality time together.

Through acquisition of award-winning animation studio Pixar and the classic Marvel comics brand, Disney ensured its continuing relevance to kids of all ages. While Disney is an entertainment merchandising powerhouse (selling everything from lunchboxes to cruises, Broadway shows and family trips to Europe), the brand itself is about providing family-friendly experiences in virtually every form of entertainment.

Disney’s continued dominance in entertainment marketing seems assured by its community of avid fans, who it rewards and further inspires through a range of structured loyalty programs. Among these is the Disney Podcast Network, where fans engage in numerous official and unofficial Disney-centric podcasts, connecting enthusiasts and building communities.

So what do these great brands have in common? Each has looked at its business with fresh eyes, anticipated customers’ needs during difficult times, and committed to long-term, relevant brand building. They make brand promises that resonate with customers and employees alike and then work hard to deliver on them, using the broadest range of creative, often cost-effective, tools to build consistently strong relationships and positive experiences.

About Landor’s Breakaway Brands Study

First published in 2004, Landor’s annual study provides a look at brands that have exhibited sustained, quantifiable increases in brand strength over a three-year period. Brand strength is determined using three years of consumer survey data from the BrandAsset Valuator U.S. database. Landor analyzed data for about 2,500 brands across industries and interviewed more than 15,000 consumers annually, evaluating 48 different measures of brand health. By comparing brand performance on key measures that drive consumer preference and choice, specifically the brand’s differentiation and the brand’s relevance. When a brand grew significantly on both measures–and indication of true brand strength–and these numbers were sustained over the three-year period, they became candidates for the Breakaway Brands list.

Later, Landor partnered with graduate students from Wake Forest University’s School of Business to conduct secondary research on key actions undertaken by brand owners to enhance performance and identify the strategies and initiatives employed to sustain brand growth over three years. The finalists are therefore not necessarily the biggest brands, but they are the brands that proactively built their brand strength most consistently over time.